


No Unnecessary Lines

by owlbsurfinbird



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Drawing, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-05-30
Packaged: 2018-01-27 16:04:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1716503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlbsurfinbird/pseuds/owlbsurfinbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts as a doodle...</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Unnecessary Lines

**Author's Note:**

> "Who would have thought that the telephone would bring back drawing?"  
> David Hockney

It starts as a doodle.

Left on hold, a routine call, Hathaway draws. Parallel lines, a section of cross hatch. He gets the information needed, jots a note on a separate sheet of paper keeping his police work separate from the inner workings of his mind. Telling statement, that.

His work captures far less of his attention than it did before. His excitement at becoming an Inspector is dulled by paperwork, responsibility, drudgery. Where's the fun? The fun's at home, reading, most likely. Maybe off for a walk. Maybe on the phone, chatting with 'our Lyn.'

He punches in another number. He gave his sergeant the 'good' piece of the investigation to jump start their excitement. It's a trick learned from Lewis, giving away juicy bits on the inquiry to balance out the tedious tasks that were the bagman's lot.

He's on hold again. He'd prefer voice mail, at least then he could move on to the next call. He shades the circle between the lines, adds another line, absently.

He stretches, tilting his head back. A voice comes on the line and he takes down the information. Then he glances at the other paper on his desk.

He's drawn Lewis' eye.

Hadn't sketched in ages. He was reprimanded for his last sketch of a particularly mean-spirited priest in seminary. The last time he thought about drawing was meeting Philip Norton, who painted the clouds above the Thames over and over.

For James, it had always been less technique and more emotion.

The eye draws his attention. It needs a nose, and the outline of the other eye. He imagines his thumbs moving, caressing away the tired creases beneath Lewis' eyes, tracing crow's feet. He smudges away furrows, fancies his palms cupping the edges of the jaw. Each crinkle lovingly assessed and documented, pencil on paper. Image of a life well-lived.

The mouth. He has spent far too much time staring at Lewis' mouth over the years. The tiny tell at the corner when something was not quite right. The exquisite softening of his lips before he breaks out in that achingly beautiful smile that lights up his whole face.

He drew a look of affection in the eyes that he hopes to capture in drawing the mouth. A gentleness, a fondness, he imagines Lewis only expresses for him. He'd seen it so often when Lewis hadn't known he was watching. A glance from the other desk. A shift of attention from one thing to James.

James noticed.

Of course neither of them would say anything. Just friends, nothing more. Still, that expression, so hard to capture in pencil though it was etched in his mind.

There was a tap on the doorjamb.

"Fancy a pint?"

Hathaway quirks a smile. And there it is, in answer. That soft look. He holds up a hand. "Just give me a sec." He quickly adds several lines to his drawing and slips it beneath the other papers on his desk.

"Important?"

"Yes. Very."

 

**Author's Note:**

> "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."  
> William Strunk, Jr.


End file.
